Wringer



Jan. 2, 1951 c, s g 2,536,324

WRINGER Filed Sepi. 10, 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet l 2 INVENTOR.

Jan. 2, 1951 c, s g 2,536,324

WRINGER Filed Sept. 10, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR.

Jan. 2, 1951 c. A. STICKEL 2,536,324

WRINGER Filed Sept. 10, 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR.

ZM/ A sm/re/ Patented Jan. 2, 1951 WRINGER Carl A. Stickel, Dayton, Ohio, assignor to General Motors Corporation, Dayton, Ohio, at corporation of Delaware Application September 10, 1945, Serial No. 615,414

This invention relates to clothes wringers such as are used in connection with washing machines.

It is an object of my invention to provide a clothes wringer with an extremely simple, direct and inexpensive control which is easier and more rapid to operate and yet provides greater safety.

It is another object of my invention to provide a clothes wringer with a simple indexing arrangement requiring only the forcible rotation of the wringer from one station to another to index the wringer as well as to prevent operation of the rolls during indexing and the automatic restarting of the wringer rolls after indexing.

It is another object of my invention to provide a simple indexing arrangement which will also stop the rotation of the rolls upon an overload or by the instinctive reaction of an operator when an accident occurs.

Briefly, these objects are attained by providing a swinging wringer in which a transmitting bar has an end portion capable of being lodged in any one of a plurality of notches fonholding the wringer in any one of the corresponding selective indexing stations. When the wringer is moved from one indexing station to another the transmitting bar is cammed out of the notch in which it is retained and this reaction moves the manual control device from either a forward or reverse driving position to the neutral position in which it remains after the newly selected indexing station is reached.-

The torque reaction of the vertical drive shafts tends to swing the wringer on its axis and if the rotation of the rolls should be stopped or become difiicult, the wringer will swing to cause the transmitting bar to be actuated to throw the control mechanism to the neutral position. In the event of an accident not involving the application of a heavy drag on the rolls, there will normally be an instinctive reaction by the person operating the wringer to either push or pull the roller which will cause it to swing and operate the transmitting bar to move the controls to the neutral position.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein a preferred form of the present invention is clearly shown.

' In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a clothes wringer embodying one form of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along the lines 2--2 of Fig. 1;

2 Claims. (01. 68-255) Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view of a wringer post and wringer head showing a modification applied to the form of wringer shown in Figs. 1 and 2; and

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along the lines ll of Fig. 3.

Referring now to the drawings there is shown the tub 28 of a washing machine having fastened to its side a vertical wringer post 22. This wringer post 22 contains a vertical drive shaft 2 normally driven by an electric motor beneath the tub 2G. The post 22 is held in place by the bracket 28 fastened to the side of the tub 20. Resting upon the bracket 28 and rotatably mounted on the portion of the post above the bracket 28 is the wringer head 39. This wringer head 30 includes a lower cylindrical portion 32 and a rectangular-shaped gear box 33 containing the forward driving pinion 38 and the re-- verse driving pinion 40, each of which are continuously in mesh with the crown gear 42. The crown gear 42 connects through the bearing portion 44 to the lower roll 45 0f the wringer. The upper roll 43 may be driven from the lower roll as is conventional. The remaining portions of the wringer may be like those shown in the Kaufmann Patent 2,216,745, issued October 8, 1940.

The driving pinions 38 and. Ml are preferably rotatably mounted upon a drive shaft 46 which preferably connects to the drive shaft 24 through a pin and slot connection. The drive shaft 46 is rotatably supported and prevented from moving axially by bearings at the top and the bottom of the gear box 36. For this purpose the upper end i of the drive shaft 4-6 'is reduced in size and the shoulder so formed is held against the upper driving pinion 40 which in turn has its upper face held against a thrust bearing surface by a washer lll held in place by the nut H3 at the top of the shaft. The gear box 36 is normally filled with a heavy grease for lubricating purposes.

The pinions 38 and 4!) are provided with clutch teeth for engagement with complementary clutch teeth provided upon the opposite ends of the clutch collar 50 which is splined to the drive shaft 46. This clutch collar 50 is moved into engagement with the clutch teeth on either of the pinions 38 or 40 by the roller 52, which rides in a deep groove extending around the middle of the collar 50. This roller is eccentrically mounted upon the stub shaft 12 rotatably mounted in the end wall of the gear casing 36. This stub shaft 12 is connected to an operating shaft 14 provided with an operating handle 16 at its outer end. When this handle is in its vertical position the clutch collar 5|] will be in its neutral position. If the handle 16 is moved to the rear as viewed in Fig. 1 the roller 52 moves the clutch collar 50 into engagement with the teeth on the forward driving pinion 38. If the handle 16 is moved to the front the roller 52 will lift the clutch collar 50 into engagement with the teeth on the reverse driving pinion '40.

To hold the wringer in any one of a plurality of selected indexing stations I provide a collar 26 which rests upon and is fastened to the flange 28. The notches 18 are cone-shaped and may be formed by the point of an ordinary twist drill. At one side of the wringer head 30 there is provided the vertical slide bar 82 having a V- pointed lower end 83 which enters any one of the notches 18 in the collar 26. The angle of the notches l8 and the angle of the V-point at the lower end 83 of the slide bar 82 taken together with the tension of the spring H6 determines the amount of force required to swing the wringer out of any one of :its indexing stations. The slide bar 52 is siidably mounted upon the lower cylindrical portion 32 by a screw 95 which extends through the slot 9! into the boss 93.

The upper end of the slide bar is provided with a slot 9! through which extends a screw from the support 86 in such a manner as to guide the upper portion of the slide member 82.

The upper end of the slide bar 82 is provided with angular shoulders 92 and 9t and a recess between these shoulders. A wing member or transverse projection :96 is provided upon the end of the stub shaft 72. If the operating handle 16 is moved into the forward or reverse drivr ing positions, the projectionQt will be tilted in one direction .or the other. The movement of the wringer and wringer head out of any one of the index stations will cause the slide member 82 to be cam-med out of the particular notch 78 in which it has been lodged against the tension of the spring H5 to engage the transverse projection S6 for moving it to the horizontal or neutral positions shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The amount of force required to do this will depend upon the tension of the spring Hi5, the angle of the cone-shaped notches l8 and the angles of the V-point provided at the lower end 83 of the slide member 82.

To prevent the wringer head 30 from being lifted when the slide bar 82 is cammed out of one of the notches 18 I provide a screw J20 which threads through the lower cylindrical portion 32 of the head 38 into an annular groove I22 pro vided .in a collar I24 fixed within the top of the wringer post 22. This prevents the wringer head from being withdrawn from the wringer post unless the screw 12% is first removed from the groove !22. This forces the slide bar 82 to move relative to the wringer head 30 when its lower end .83 is cammed out of the notch 18 so as to insure the forcing of the clutch collar 58 to the neutral position.

Referring now to Figs. 3 and 4 there is shown a modification in which a pivoted transmission bar 22! is substituted for the slidable bar 82. This transmission bar 22! is pivotally mounted, upon the bearing screw 223 threaded into the gear case 225. The lower cylindrical portion 221 of the wringer head is rotatably mounted upon the upper end of thewringer post 229 which is laterally supported by the bracket :23! connected to thetub. Supported and fastened to this bracket 23! is a collar 233 having as many V-shaped notches 235 in its periphery and at 4 such radial locations as it is desired to have indexing stations. The lower end 228 of transmitting lever 22! is offset as shown in Fig. 3, so that its pivoting movement will lie within a plane passing through the axis of the wringer post 229. The lower end 228 is bent vertically so as to extend through the guiding slot formed in the-split boss 23'! at the lower end of the lower cylindrical portion 221. The extreme lower end 228 of the transmitting lever 22! normally extends within one of the notches 235 on the periphery of the collar 233. A tension coil spring 2 39 is provided to normally urge the lower end of the lever .22! into one of the notches 235.

In Figs. 3 and'4 the transverse projection 24! is arranged to be vertical in the neutral position placing the forward and reverse driving posit'ions at an angle of about 30 degrees in either direction from the vertical. The upper end of the transmitting bar has an upper shoulder 243 and a lower shoulder 24.5 which are arranged 'to be almost in engagement with the transverse projection 24! when in either the forward or reverse driving positions.

When the wring-er head is forcibly rotated about the wringer post 229 and the wringer is in either the forward or reverse driving position.

the lower end 228 of the transmitting lever 22! will be forced .out of one of the notches 235 against the tension of the spring 239 to cause one of the shoulders, either 243 or 24 5, to engage either the upper or lower portion of the transverse projection 24! and to carry it back to the vertical or neutral position. This, of course, moves the driving mechanism from either the forward or reverse position to the neutral position as is illustrated in Fig. l. The split boss 23? takes the lateral thrust upon the lower end 228 of the transmitting lever 22! when it is being cammed out of one of the notches 235. With this arrangemnt it is unnecessary to provide the locking groove !22 and the locking screw I20 since the reaction between the sides of the notches 235 and the transmitting lever 22! is lateral instead of vertical. This is also true with respect to the engagement between the upper end of the lever 22! and the transverse projection 24!. wringer head and'wring'er may be constructed as shown in Figs. l and 2.

While the forms of embodiments or the invendrive mechanism connected to. said shaft for driving the wringer rolls, 'amanual control means including a horizontal operating shaft jprotruding from said head member and provided, with a handle for moving the drive mechanism to and from driving and non-driving positions, said shaft being provided with an integral operating. device, said post member having stationing means.

havingcam surfaces providing a plurality of indexing stations, fa transmitting bar extending between the station-ing means and said operating device, and yielding means acting upon the transmitting bar tonormally hold one portion of the bar in engagement with said cam surfaces, another portionof said bar being provided'with actuating surfaces engageable with said operat 'In all other respects the.

2. A wringer comprising a wringer post member containing a drive shaft, a wringer head member rotatably mounted upon the post member, said head member being provided with a drive mechanism connected to said shaft for driving the wringer rolls, a manual control means including a horizontal operating shaft protruding from said head member and provided with a handle for moving the drive mechanism to and from driving and non-driving positions, said shaft being provided with an operating device, said post member having stationing means having cam surfaces providing a plurality of indexing stations, a transmitting bar extending between the stationing means and said operating device, and yielding means acting upon the transmitting bar to normally hold one portion of the bar in engagement with said cam surfaces, another portion of said bar being provided with actuating surfaces for coacting with said operating device to move the operating shaft and handle to move the drive mechanism from one position to another, said cam surfaces being so shaped to cam said transmitting bar out of engagement with themselves when a force above a predetermined amount is applied to rotate the head relative to the post member, and said transmitting bar being pivoted to constitute a simple lever.

CARL A. STICKEL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

